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V. M. Straka
V. M. Straka is the author of record of Ship of Theseus. His identity is unknown and it has been suggested that V. M. Straka is an nom de plume. His (their?) identity is one of the central mysteries of S. Trivia These are some random facts known about Straka. These come from the footnotes and most are clearly false, hiding codified messages for him. *A rumor said that he spent each half year in a remote cabin in Thinkar, Bhutan, where he practiced mountaineering when he didn't write. *He often had dreams of many archeological strata simultaneously. *Staying ahead of creditors, state organs, covert operatives, exploiters of his work and identity took a toll on his body and health and had many physical ailments. According to FXC chronic ear infection left him unable to hear sounds between 2710-60 HZ *He loved Carmina Burana. He told FXC several times that it was the truest, most intense expression more than he would ever write. (this is true as it is the reason why FXC loved that piece too) *He was a young violin prodigy but at a music contest he came in 19th out of 19. *He was an avid birdwatcher and he would not reply when a favorite species passed over his area. Works He was sending his works, written in a different language each time, in onionskin typescript in creased manila envolopes which he sent to F.X. Caldeira to translate. 13 novels were published in more than 20 years this way. He cooperated by correspondence and a condition was that the receipient should burn all his letters. A few verifiable public statements survived, and many claiming to be his, are hoaxes and frauds. He requested that his books be published with no foreword, commentary or footnotes. Endings and beginnings were particular preoccupations, and Straka scoffed to FXC that every serious storyteller has them. His works are dark political subversive stories for adults. The stories are set in weird dreamy environments and show literary/moral complexity; they often feature self-examination and questions of identity; actually several are deeply informed by philosophical inquiries into the nature of identity. A recurring theme is blameing oneself for cowardice. They commonly contain deaths by falling, and trustful people who are punished. A big theme seen everywhere in his works is that those in power don't care and don't try to understand the others. His novels are provocative and controversial that included secret, conspiracies and shadow-world occurrences that shamed industrialists; foreseeing the sweep of totalitarianism of the early 20th century. Death? Although corresponding regularly for years, Straka and Caldeira never met. In 1946, May, while Straka and Caldeira were working on the Ship of Theseus, he invited her to his hotel in Havana to hand her the 10th final chapter in person. When Caldeira arrived, his room was empty with signs of struggle (the manuscript pages were dispersed) and policemen were loading a body in a truck. It is unknown if the body was Straka or he staged his death in order to disappear. Caldeira had developed feelings for Straka and hoped that he was still alive; when she published SOT she included coded messages directing him to Grand Central Station, having left a bag for him, but it was stolen. Bibliography All but the last of Straka's books were published by Karst & Son. Since The Spotted Cat, he wrote his books in collaboration with F.X. Caldeira. The (*) marks a date which is estimated by interpolation (not given in the written sources). # Miracle at Braxenholm (1911) # The Cordillera (c. 1914)* # The Square (c. 1916)* # The Painted Cave (1919) # The Santana March (c. 1920)* # Triptych of Mirrors (c. 1922)* # The Spotted Cat (1924) # The Black Nineteen (1925) # A Hundred Aprils in Amritsar (c. 1926)* # The Viper's Humor (c. 1927)* # Washington & Greene (1929) # Hanging the Dead (c. 1930)* # Lopevi (1932) # The Night Palisades (1934) # The Brigade (c. 1936)* # Wineblood's Mine (1939) # The Winged Shoes of Emydio Alves (1942) # Coriolis (1944) # Ship of Theseus (October 1949 by Winged Shoes Press) Facts *Although in all probability it is a pseudonym, Straka is a Czech/Slovak surname meaning magpie, . *Textual analysis suggests that Braxenholm (1911) was written by a young person. *The Square shows first-hand knowledge of the Haymarket bombing. *The Painted Cave shows detailed knowledge of archaeological sites in the south of France *The Spotted Cat shows familiarity with the piratical life and much knowledge of the Nazca region. *The Black Nineteen shows a high-ranking member of the Black Hand, or access to such a person *Straka is generally presumed to have been raised/educated in the west (although this may have more to do with the cultural bias of scholars and readers) *Linguistic analyses don't rule out the possibility that the books were written by a native English speaker. Well-regarded analyses favored a Spanish, and then Swedish native speaker. Other analyses pointed to a German or Czech speaker. They also suggest strongly that he was not a native French-speaker. *His texts reveal an extremely well-educated, well-read and well-traveled person. *His views are radical leftist, if not anarchist, and aggressively (even strident) anti-capitalist. He seems to be endorsing violence. Identity This is a partial list of minor Straka candidates according to J. W. Dominguez. For others see: Straka candidates *Sadahiro Shimizu *Sybylla Akkerman *Karel Brzezicki *Gennady Drozdov *Benjamin B. Jensen *A.N. Massoud *Ogbonna Ndabo *Emily Woodforde Parsons *Bela Álmos Ujváry *C.F.J. Wallingford Jennifer Heyward and Eric Husch suggest the theory that Straka was a persona assumed by writers of the S group, built around the factory worker Vaclav Straka soon after his attempted (or staged) suicide. Category:Extra-book Characters